“Make sure you learn the
basics thoroughly in the first year. They’ll help
you all the way through.”
Benjamin Taylor
Course: BA Russian and Serbian/Croatian (fourth year)
“The University of Nottingham was recommended to me because of the reputation of the Department, but it was when I first visited the campus that I knew that it was where I wanted to study. I met quite a few persuasive professors that day who convinced me to apply!
The fact that Nottingham did this unusual course was great. I was attracted to the broad range of modules, and the relatively small size of the Department – when you learn languages it’s really important to have plenty of contact time. Our teachers are specialists in their areas which is very inspiring and we have access to an extensive range of literature and media in the library as well as an excellent Self-Access Language Centre. In regard to specific modules I really enjoyed Building Sovietness. It was great to have exposure to such a diverse range of material, from the avant-garde cinema to samizdat literature.
The possibility of spending time in the countries we’re
studying was very attractive to me and I have just returned
from a year abroad. It’s a required part of the degree and I
spent a year immersing myself in the target languages by
studying in both St Petersburg and Belgrade. This has the
great benefit of broadening your understanding of the
culture, how the language is used in practice, and how its
style can vary from person to person. I’ve had exams in both
languages where I’ve had to show my capacity to speak the
language so the time abroad really helped. Studying abroad
presented exciting challenges which you learn to deal with.
You become more independent and it shapes you as a
person – I really enjoyed it.”